Nervously, JC paced the small confines of his dressing room, waiting impatiently for Matt to finish his show.  Lisa would be coming backstage shortly, and JC just knew that all would be forgiven and they would be a couple after he sang that song for her.  The song was the clincher.  Her face had said it all; the tears in her eyes, the look on her face, the way she leaned on Kelly.  All those things pointed toward a new and great relationship in his mind.

“How long is this show?”  JC mumbled to himself as the clock seemed to slow and even stop it was progressing so gradually.  JC paused for a moment to daydream.  Would she be reserved and wait for him to make a move?  Would she simply kiss him to show him how she felt?  Or would she jump into his arms so they tumbled onto the couch in a tangle of limbs and bodies pressed together?  JC adjusted his pants that were growing ever tighter.  He took a moment to appreciate the fantasy. 

Loud voices erupted in the hall, signaling that the show was finally over.  Should he sit or stand to greet her?  Sit, he decided.  Sitting was more relaxed and it gave him a more confident pose.  He smirked – if he were sitting, no tumbling was needed, she could just pounce.

A shadow of feet paused outside his door, Lisa was coming.  He lifted his leg so his ankle rested on his opposite knee and placed an arm on the back of the couch.  Wait, if his leg was crossed she couldn’t jump in his lap so he quickly placed his foot back on the floor. 

A soft tap was heard on the door…

***

Kelly drug Lisa through the hallways, Joey had made himself scarce, choosing to avoid the drama that was going to ensue, instead going to find Matt. 

“You have to Lisa, it’s the decent thing to do.  He sang that song just for you, you know what you have to do.”

“Why does this keep happening to me?  Just when I make any progress on getting him out of my head and heart, he does something like this to pull me back in.”  Just as Kelly reached out to tap on JC’s dressing room door, Lisa had another thought, “Kelly, you will NOT leave me alone with him, is that clear?”  She was just getting ready to force Kelly to look her in the eyes and promise when the door swung open.

JC looked between the two women, Lisa had her arm through Kelly’s and was holding on tightly.  “Ladies, please come in.”

When JC’s back was turned to close the door, Kelly shook her arm to try to loosen Lisa’s grip, but it was to no avail.  Lisa wasn’t letting go.  They both smiled at JC innocently when he turned around. 

“Would you like something to drink?  Water?”  As they both nodded, he crossed to the small refrigerator in the room and happened to glance in the mirror to see Kelly’s fancy footwork. 

Kelly grabbed Lisa’s hand in hers and twisted to spin in a circle to escape from Lisa’s hold.  Lisa squeaked in protest as JC watched in amazement.  Quickly grabbing 2 bottles of water, he turned back to the two women who acted as if nothing had happened.  Kelly immediately came forward and gave JC a long hug offering a whispered ‘good luck’ before pulling away. 

He handed her a bottle of water before lifting a bottle with an extended reach toward Lisa.  In order to except it, Lisa was forced to take several steps away from the door.  She smiled her thanks and opened her arms to give JC a hug.  Neither had said a word, yet. 

Kelly was inching her way slowly toward the door when her phone rang.  She grabbed it from her purse and clutched it like a lifeline.  

“Hello…oh, no…we’re on our way.”  She hung up and looked at the other two.  “I’m sorry, Kloey is sick and Joey and I need to get home.  JC, an amazing performance as usual.  I have to go find Joey.  I’ll talk to you guys later.”

“Kelly!”  Lisa hissed from JC’s side then sent an uncomfortable smile up at him. 

“JC, you’ll make sure Lisa gets back to her hotel, won’t you?  Love you both, bye.”  She left without another look at Lisa, afraid she would crumble and stay and then JC and Lisa would never get a chance to talk. 

Lisa looked longingly at the door as JC looked longingly at her.  “Kelly was right, you always do an amazing job, you have more talent in one finger than most people have in their whole bodies.”  She moved to sit on the couch and opened her bottle of water, drinking deeply. 

He cleared his throat as he remained standing.  This wasn’t going as he had imagined.  “Thank you, I was grateful that Matt asked me to sing with him.”

An uncomfortable silence descended as Lisa looked at anything but JC and JC couldn’t look away from Lisa. 

“So, you look good, are you feeling alright?”  Her gaze skimmed down his trim body, but lingered over the bugling muscles in his arms. 

“Yeah, I’m as good as new, you’d never believe that I had been in a coma and gone through months of therapy.”

She nodded. 

“How’s Kevin?”  A confused look crossed her face. 

“Who?”

He had her now.  “Your boyfriend?  Isn’t that his name?”

“Oh, yeah, he’s doing well.”  She averted her eyes and found something interesting to study on her shoes. 

His hand came up to rub over his mouth to hide his grin.  “That’s good, that’s good.”  He walked over and sat close to her on the couch.  “Lisa, listen, I -”

He stopped in midsentence when Lisa leapt to her feet.  “Well, it’s getting late and I’d better head back to the hotel.  An incredible job as always on the show tonight.  Thank you for the song.  That’s been my favorite forever.  I’ll never forget how you sang it.”  

“Wait -”  Lisa gave him a quick hard hug and when he tightened his arms around her, she wiggled and ducked to be released until he had no choice but to let her go for the moment. 

With her hand on the doorknob, JC scrambled to gather up his belongings before she could leave.  “Wait just a second, I’ll take you back to your hotel, I promised Kelly.”

“That’s okay, I know you have stuff to do here, I can make it back on my own.  Again, nice job.”  And she slid out the door. 

Walking quickly through the hall, she tried to keep her tears at bay until she was alone.  Hearing his footsteps behind her and him calling her name, she took the opportunity as she walked through a group of women who were apparently fans to stop him from following her.  “Ladies, JC Chasez is coming down this hall, if you want an autograph or picture, now is the time.” 

They all screamed and moved as one toward JC.  His eyes never looked away from her retreating form.  “This isn’t over, Lisa.”  He called out.

She merely lifted a hand in response and kept walking.